1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the distribution and playing of media, and more particularly to flexible methods of providing access to media, media playlists, and media-based advertisements at multiple locations and methods of easily spreading such media, media playlists, and media-based advertisements to various locations over the Internet or a similar network and through and to users' computer desktops.
2. Background and Related Art
One increasingly-important use of the Internet has been the playing and sharing of media files. This has become popular and important, in part, due to the increasing number of users having high-speed connections to the Internet. These users are now able to access large media files, including songs, movies, pictures, etc., and are increasingly desirous to receive much of their media through the Internet. Additionally, many users now store their media on the Internet instead of locally, to improve access for themselves and others. However, limitations on the delivery of media through the Internet are readily apparent.
For example, in many instances, the delivery of media is limited by its location: individuals must seek out media in which they are interested, and must navigate to the particular location (such as a website) where that media is stored. Sharing media may be cumbersome, as large media files take up large amounts of space on multiple servers each time the media is shared with another location. Additionally, once media is stored in a particular location, it typically must be accessed by returning to the original storage location. This requires additional navigational steps that make media retrieval cumbersome for some users.